By Eric Martin

Reviewed by Pennell Paugh

August 18, 2024 (San Diego) — Erik Christopher Martin lives and writes in San Diego, California. The Case of the Greensboro Gremlins: Dotty Morgan Supernatural Sleuth Blook ThreeGremlins and fashion don’t mix!

Summer vacation before seventh grade Dotty is growing and her friend Hannah is getting taller. Hannah competes in a wrestling championship and is hired for a fashion show to present Parker’s clothes. He is Dotty’s best friend.

Parker attends a fashion show for young designers in Greensboro, the start of Fashion Week. After a series of accidents plague the rehearsals, Parker enlists Dotty to investigate. Her investigation reveals that gremlins are behind the mishaps. Worse still, someone has deliberately brought them into the theater. Sabotage!

Here is an excerpt:

Jimmy sat on a moss-covered sandstone slab in front of a narrow crack in the hillside behind a depression north of his house. His half-eaten gift basket of summer sausages lay beside him. The morning sun had just reached the eastern edge of the remote valley.

From the darkness of the crack, something was watching Jimmy.

“Come on. It’s okay. Why are you so shy today? I have more sausage.”

A tiny creature took two steps out of the opening. It was nine inches tall, with two arms and two legs, green skin, and leathery wings like a bat’s folded on its back. Its mouth seemed too large for its head, and was covered with sharp, protruding teeth. At the end of each finger was a long, needle-like claw. The thing wore a hard fishing hat on its head and a dull patched shirt that reached to its knees.

“Ratch, you’ll at least come over and get some sausages.”

Jimmy unpacked a fresh summer sausage. He cut off a piece with his pocket knife and offered it to Ratch. The animal sniffed, then half

half ran over and snatched it from Jimmy’s hand. It sat on Jimmy’s leg and ate.

“That’s good, isn’t it? Sausage is my favorite food.” Jimmy cut himself a piece.

More small figures appeared at the narrow cave entrance, some only six inches tall, some over a foot tall. Some were green, like Ratch, but others had gray, purple, or brown skin. Six of them stepped forward and sat down on the edge of the slab, staring back and forth at Jimmy from the basket.

Jimmy cut more pieces off the summer sausage and cut a piece of smoked Gouda into it.

“Jimmy, good,” Ratch said as Jimmy handed him a piece of cheese. “Ratch, like Jimmy.”

“I like you too. We’re friends, right?”

“Friends.”

A branch broke off nearby.

Alarmed, Ratch and the others flew back to their cave. Jimmy was suddenly alone. But not for long, because someone was coming up the trail. In the months since he found this place, he had never seen another person. He looked around for a place to hide.

Jimmy grabbed his basket and his bike and ducked behind a fallen tree trunk overgrown with bushes.

A tall man appeared down the path. From where he stood, Jimmy could only see the man from the waist down; dirty jeans, black work boots. The sun glinted off his chain belt and the large silver buckle in the shape of a “1%.”

The man placed a sturdy metal cage on the ground in front of the crack in the stone wall. It was made of solid stainless steel and had only very narrow slits. The man emptied the contents of a large Fat Cooker bag into the cage: half a dozen sausage rolls, hash browns and eggs, all baked with cheese.

“Mmm, that smells good, doesn’t it? Are you still there? Remember me? Your old buddy? Sure,” the man said softly, his drawl suggesting he was from around here. He sat down on the same slab of rock Jimmy had just been on. “It’s OK. I brought you a little something for old times’ sake. Come and get it.”

Something rustled near Jimmy’s foot. A brown rattlesnake slithered through the leaves. Jimmy held his breath and remained still. The snake paid him no attention, kept walking, and stopped on the other side of the tree trunk where the morning sun shone through the canopy.

A small head appeared at the cave entrance. One of the creatures slowly moved toward the food, followed by another, and then several more. Soon a dozen were in the cage, greedily devouring the Fat Cooker’s feast. The cage door slammed shut and they were trapped.

“Got you,” said the man. The things shook the sides of the cage. “Take it easy. I won’t hurt you. I just have some work for you, that’s all.”

Can Dotty solve the Greensboro Gremlins case before Fashion Week is ruined, and how will her friends fare in their competitions?

This story is full of wonderful characters and their friendships, secrets, and ethereal creatures – some good, some not so good.

The Case of the Greensboro Gremlins is Martin’s sixth published novel and the third book in the Dotty Morgan Supernatural Sleuth Series. In addition to writing books for young adult and middle grade readers, Martin’s short stories for adult readers have appeared in the Tales to Terrify Podcast, Coffin Bell, The Potato Soup Journal, and various other anthologies and magazines. Erik is a member of the Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and the San Diego Writers & Editors Guild.